Advice for teachers -
Visual Communication Design

Unit 3 – Area of Study 2: Design industry practice

Outcome 2

Discuss the practices of a contemporary designer from each of the design fields and explain factors that influence these practices.

Examples of learning activities

Develop a case study of a range of designers (school visits, studio visits or online). The three design fields of communication, environmental and industrial design should be covered. This study may be supported by the following activities:
- examine the way designers from all three design fields work, including the client’s brief and how designers respond to a brief
- analyse the work of designers in the way materials, media or methods have impacted on the aesthetic or functional qualities. Describe how alternative materials, media or methods may have impacted on the design and the reasons for the decisions made by the designer
- take turns role playing designers (from all three design fields) and justify their creations in terms of aesthetics and function. Create a client profile and imaginary brief as part of the process
- investigate, identify and describe the work of additional specialists in one or more design fields. Prepare an annotated poster to describe how a designer coordinates the work of specialists and the impact of specialists in the design process
- examine the legal and moral considerations surrounding copyright, trade marks and other intellectual property relating to the way designers work.
Imagine you are an in-house designer for a range of international government agencies (e.g. NASA, Antarctic, rural, ATSIC, UN). Define the constraints, limitations or expectations regarding the design of possible work garments. View garments used by those agencies and then discuss the reasons designers could have made decisions regarding materials and methods. Also discuss how those decisions influenced the aesthetics and function of the designs. Explain at which stages of the design process key decisions may have been made.
Interview one designer from each design field. Find out how they are employed (in-house in a non-design company, free-lance, or short- or long-term in a design studio/ office) and evaluate how their employment impacts on the kind of work they produce. Compare the work of the designers in each field, in relation to how they work with their client: how a design need is communicated to the designer, how a brief is generated, how the designer responds to the brief, how they go about presenting initial ideas to the client. Find out the designer’s and client’s role in evaluating initial ideas and selecting a concept for development and production.
Form groups to investigate working in individual design fields (with guided questions from the teacher). Share findings with the class. Produce a table that compares typical work processes within each design field, including the role of key personnel, client, art director, etc. in the design process.
Investigate professional settings for a range of design disciplines, including graphic design studios, advertising agencies, working environments of freelance illustrators, photographers and architects. Compare the size of each business in relation to the number of people employed and the structure of the organisation. Describe the skills of each type of designer.
Interview at least one designer from each design field. Discuss clients for whom they have produced visual communication solutions, comparing the nature of the task to the methods used throughout the design process. Discuss how details of the brief are developed and documented and how these have inﬂuenced the designers’ design process and decisions made. Present this as an article written for a design magazine or Frankie or Smith Journal magazines.
Use class discussion to brainstorm ways a single client may require the services of different types of designers for different purposes. Consider the relationships between the work of different ﬁelds of practice. For example, design studios that produce identity design and applications such as stationery packaging, and signage; industrial designers who design products; and architects who work with environments.
Investigate the meaning of the terms: intellectual property, copyright and trade marks. Develop clear deﬁnitions for each and identify a range of examples where inﬂuences from other sources are evident or have been used deliberately to associate it with the original.
Investigate design careers including: communication design, digital media design, advertising, illustration, package and surface design, brand identity, landscape design, architecture, interior design, exhibition and display and service event design. Identify and describe the type of work undertaken in these disciplines and the skills needed. Find examples of Australian and international designers whose work is of particular interest in these fields.
Conduct interviews with design practitioners within the community. Discuss the types of work undertaken, the processes followed and skills applied. Investigate whether collaboration or support is provided by other specialists. Present an oral report to the class with visual support.

Detailed example

Design process in detail – case study

Case study of a range of designers (school visits, studio visits or online).

Teacher arranges visits to a design studio or visits by designers, or uses video or online resources that describe designers’ processes. Teacher ensures that they cover designers working in each of the fields of communication, industrial and environmental design.

Designers are given an outline of what they should focus on in their presentations. Students prepare questions that allow them to make comparisons between the designers. They use these to take notes at the presentations and they synthesise the information into their own material for assessment.

Questions could include:

Where and how does the designer work? Who is their client? How are they employed? What is the role of the client in the design process?
What is the design/s in the case study and how did the need arise?
How do the designers respond to a design need? Are they given a brief and how does it describe the parameters for the need? How do they respond to the brief? What and where were the designers’ sources of inspiration?
What are the roles of designers and other specialists involved in the designs? What skills do specialists bring to the project team and at what stages of the design process? How do the skills required from specialists vary at different stages of the design process? How and when do designers communicate and collaborate during the design process?
What work does each designer do in each of the design fields? What methods, equipment or computer applications do they use? What skills, materials and methods do they use at each stage of the design process?
What evaluation techniques do the designers use?
What were factors that influenced design decisions in the case study? How did these decisions arise; at which stages of the design process, and how were they resolved? What role did design elements and/or principles, materials, manufacturing methods or social, cultural, ethical, legal, financial or environmental factors play in design decisions?
How did the designer work in respect of copyright and legal obligations during the design process?

The results of case studies can be shared in class and formalised into student revision notes.

Advice for teachers - Visual Communication Design